[Infowarrior] - Cybersecurity Czar to be announced this week

[Richard Forno]

Obama Set to Create A Cybersecurity Czar With Broad Mandate
Shielding Public, Private Networks Is Goal

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/25/AR2009052502104_pf.html

By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 26, 2009

President Obama is expected to announce late this week that he will  
create a "cyber czar," a senior White House official who will have  
broad authority to develop strategy to protect the nation's government- 
run and private computer networks, according to people who have been  
briefed on the plan.

The adviser will have the most comprehensive mandate granted to such  
an official to date and will probably be a member of the National  
Security Council but will report to the national security adviser as  
well as the senior White House economic adviser, said the sources, who  
spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deliberations are not  
final.

The announcement will coincide with the long-anticipated release of a  
40-page report that evaluates the government's cybersecurity  
initiatives and policies. The report is intended to outline a  
"strategic vision" and the range of issues the new adviser must  
handle, but it will not delve into details, administration officials  
told reporters last month.

Cybersecurity "is vitally important, and the government needs to be  
coordinated on this," a White House official said Friday, speaking on  
the condition of anonymity. "The report give conclusions and next  
steps. It's trying to steer us in the right direction."

The document will not resolve the politically charged issue of what  
role the National Security Agency, the premier electronic surveillance  
agency, will have in protecting private-sector networks. The issue is  
a key concern in policy circles, and experts say it requires a full  
and open debate over legal authorities and the protection of citizens'  
e-mails and phone calls. The Bush administration's secrecy in handling  
its Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative, most of which was  
classified, hindered such a debate, privacy advocates have said.

The White House's role will be to oversee the process, formulate  
policy and coordinate agencies' roles, and will not be operational,  
administration officials have said.

Obama was briefed a week ago and signed off on the creation of the  
position, the sources said. But as of Friday, discussions were  
continuing as to what rank and title the adviser would have. The idea  
is to name someone who can "pick up the phone and contact the  
president directly, if need be," an administration official said,  
speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Obama pledged during his presidential campaign to elevate the issue of  
cybersecurity to a "top priority" and to appoint a national  
cybersecurity adviser "who will report directly to me."

Having the adviser report to both the national security and economic  
advisers suggests that the White House is seeking to ensure a balance  
between homeland security and economic concerns, the sources said. It  
also indicates an effort to quell an internal political battle in  
which Lawrence H. Summers, the senior White House economic adviser, is  
pushing for the National Economic Council to have a key role in  
cybersecurity to ensure that efforts to protect private networks do  
not unduly threaten economic growth, the sources said.

The report suggests that although it is a key government  
responsibility to help secure private-sector networks, regulation  
should be the last resort, the sources said. The report touts the  
concept of public-private partnerships to protect nongovernmental  
systems. It discusses the need to provide incentives for greater data  
sharing and risk management, and to use the procurement process to  
drive greater security, they said.

The report recommends that members be appointed to the Privacy and  
Civil Liberties Oversight Board, an independent executive branch  
agency created by Congress in 2007 to ensure that privacy concerns are  
considered in the implementation of counterterrorism policies and  
laws. The report suggests that the board's mandate expressly include  
cybersecurity, the sources said.

The document is based on a 60-day review of cyber policies, led by  
Melissa Hathaway, the interim White House cybersecurity adviser and  
former intelligence official who is a contender for the new position.  
During that review, Hathaway's team had dozens of meetings with  
representatives from industry, academia and civil liberties groups,  
and received more than 100 papers.